A Fortunate Collision
by Aldawg Kunzizzle
Summary: The much anticipated (we hope!) sequel to Facing Fears. Ginny collides with Harry on the streets of Hogsmeade. Why is she crying? Beware: Fluffiness ahead!


A Fortunate Collision

Harry tried not to roll his eyes as he listened to Ron and Hermione's endless bickering.

            "No, no, let's go to Zonko's, I'm seriously low on dungbombs…"

            "I am not setting foot into that store until I buy some new quills at Dervish and Banges, Ron. Honestly, it's closer anyway."

            "'Mione, please…"

            Hermione glared at him. "If you ever call me that again you'll find yourself with a missing limb."

            Ron stared at his girlfriend, open-mouthed, until Hermione finally allowed a small grin.

            "You are impossible, Ronald Weasley."

            Ron smiled and kissed her softly. Harry turned away quickly and concentrated on the snowy street of Hogsmeade. The town was crowded with Hogwarts students, all looking cheerful due to the end of term that was rapidly approaching. Several owls had escaped from the post office and were flying just beyond everyone's reach, teasing those attempting to catch them.

            When he turned back to his best friends, they were quarreling yet again, though it was a completely different type of dispute.

            "No, I'm not! YOU'RE cuter when we argue!"

            "Ron, love, you've got it backwards."

            Harry coughed loudly to cover up his annoyed groan. He couldn't take much more of this. "Hey, guys, would you mind if I walked around by myself for a while?"

            "Well…sure, I guess not…are you okay, Harry?" Hermione said.

            "Yeah, I'm fine, I just need some air."

            Ron stared at Harry, confused. "We're outside, Harry."

            "Err…right. Bye." He walked away quickly before they could protest any further.

            "I wonder what that was about," Hermione wondered aloud.

            "No idea. Sometimes I really think he's off his rocker."

            Harry walked the distance of three or four stores before turning to look at Ron and Hermione again. They were walking in the opposite direction, and from the looks of it Ron had "stolen" Hermione's nose for the fifth time that week. He had his hand clenched in a fist high above his head, and Hermione playfully jumped up and down trying to reach it. Harry shook his head and continued to watch them until someone rammed into him, knocking him over.

            "Watch where you're going, you bloody bas—oh! I'm so sorry, Harry, I was just so distracted, I wasn't watching where I was going…oh Merlin I nearly called you a…here, let me help you up." 

            Harry grabbed the hand that was being offered to him and stood, brushing the snow off his robes. "Thanks, Ginny. Don't worry about it, I wasn't really watching, either. You should've seen Ron and Hermione, they're—Ginny, what's wrong?"

            Ginny looked terrible. Her face was bright red and splotched with tears. Her hair was coming out of its neat ponytail; loose tendrils curled around her face.  Harry instinctively wiped a stray tear from her cheek with his thumb. "What's wrong?" he asked again.

            "G-Greg," she sobbed. "He…he…" Ginny choked and put her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking violently.

            Harry's brow furrowed. Greg was a Hufflepuff in Ginny's year who she had been dating for the past six weeks. Although he seemed like a nice enough guy, Harry always had the strange desire to kick something when he saw him holding hands with Ginny.

            "Come on," Harry said, "I'll buy you a butterbeer." He placed an arm awkwardly around her and led her to The Three Broomsticks.

            The tavern was unusually desolate for a chilly Hogsmeade weekend, and Harry led Ginny to a booth in the back, isolated from the other customers.

            "Now," Harry said, "what did Greg do to make you so upset? It wasn't…another girl, was it?" He clenched his fists under the table at the thought.

            "No, nothing like that," Ginny said. After a few sips of butterbeer and some deep breaths she was beginning to calm down. "He's such an _idiot_…"

            "What did he do?" Harry asked. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to…"

            "No, it's fine," Ginny said. "I just wish I knew how to say it all. It started out as nothing, really, I was just trying to convince him to join us at the D.A. meetings…"

            "Greg, please, at least consider it. It's really a great chance for everyone to prepare for what's ahead."

            Ginny and her boyfriend Greg were strolling down the aisles of Honeydukes, taking in the candy that surrounded them.

            "How is learning a bunch of spells meant to disarm or stun people useful? I mean, it's not as if You-Know-Who is actually going to come up to any of us," Greg said.

            Ginny stopped in her tracks. "Are you crazy? Greg, we're all vulnerable here, especially Harry, and in order to protect—"

            "Oh, of course. Harry, Harry, Harry. I swear, that guy loves attention so much he doesn't even care that he's putting the entire school in jeopardy—"

            Ginny stared at him in amazement. "How could you say that? Harry never asked for all of the attention he receives, and may I remind you that most of it is negative attention sparked by people like you. He _never_ asked for any of this."

            Greg's face had turned beet red from anger; his voiced raised enough for people in the shop to form a small circle around them. "Rita Skeeter was right about him, Ginny!" he exclaimed. "Harry Potter is a no-good, arrogant, selfish—"

_SMACK!_

With one swift motion, Ginny had slapped Greg clear across the face. Greg raised a hand to his ever-reddening cheek and stared at Ginny in amazement.

"Never say anything like that to me again," Ginny told him, her voice quivering. "We're through." With that, Ginny stormed out of Honeydukes and down the alley of Hogsmeade, tears already streaming down her cheeks.

Ginny cleared her throat and took another sip of butterbeer, avoiding Harry's open-mouthed gaze.

_Wow, she's amazing. Better say something sweet and witty, Potter._ "Err…adda…wibba…that is, I…" _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

Ginny looked up. "I'm sorry, Harry. I shouldn't have said anything and made you so uncomfortable—"

"No!" Harry said quickly. "No, really, I just—I mean, thanks. I'm sorry it didn't work out."

Ginny smiled at him shyly. "Well, he's a prize idiot. We would've broken up eventually anyway…better now than later."

Harry took a deep, steadying breath. "Ginny," he said, "would you maybe like to…spend the rest of the day in Hogsmeade together?"

She smiled warmly at him. "Absolutely."

            "So let me get this straight," Ginny said with a giggle. "In the entire month they've been dating, Ron and Hermione have managed to become so 'lovey-dovey' in their relationship that they've resulted in flirtatious acts such as stealing each other's noses?"

            "Exactly," Harry said, also laughing. "I'm happy for them, but it's starting to drive me crazy."

            Harry and Ginny were walking back to the school after having spent the remainder of the day in Hogsmeade. They had had a great time browsing through the shops and talking about everything from their classes to Quidditch. They happily continued their conversation until reaching the two staircases that led to their respective dormitories.

            "I really had a nice time with you today, Harry. Thank you for cheering me up."

            "It was my pleasure," Harry said. "We should, um…we should do it again sometime."

            Ginny smiled. "I'd like that. Goodnight, Harry."

            "Night, Ginny." Harry waited until Ginny had disappeared into the fifth year girl's dormitories before bolting up the steps to his own room and throwing himself on the bed with a happy sigh.

            _I had a really nice time with you today, Harry._

Harry grinned into his pillow before drifting off to sleep.

_            Ginny smiled at him sweetly, tossing her sheet of fiery red hair behind her shoulder. Harry stepped forward, closing the space between them He tucked a curl of hair behind her ear and lowered his head. She stared up at him with such a trusting expression that he felt his heart skip a beat. He leaned in closer still…he was so close…they were less than an inch apart…_

"Hermione, no, I wanna go this way…no…please…Honeydukes, Hermione. The Cannons are _not_ losers!"

            Harry's eyes snapped open. Ron had always talked in his sleep, and it had become more frequent since dating Hermione. He glared in the general direction of Ron's bed and kicked off his own covers. There was no point trying to sleep now. Harry tiptoed through his dormitory and downstairs to the common room. He nearly tripped on the final step when he saw who was already there.

            Ginny was fast asleep on the couch in front of the fireplace, a small smile playing across her face. A strand of hair was covering her nose, and with each steady breath the hair would flutter away, then return to its position. Harry took a deep breath and walked towards Ginny so that he was standing directly above her.

            Harry had had more-than-friendly feelings for Ginny since the summer before his sixth year. He didn't think he could ever forget the way she had stood in front of him when he had nearly collapsed from his boggart, which had taken the form of a dementor and forced him to relive Sirius falling through the veil over and over again. Without hesitation, Ginny had shielded him from the terrors, and the boggart had then transformed into her greatest fear.

            Ginny's boggart had shocked him. After all they had been through, her greatest fear was his death? He had never asked her about it after that, figuring it was too personal, but he'd always wondered about her feelings for him. Ginny had dated a lot of guys in just a few short years; what were his chances with her now? Well, they had to be considerably higher than they were before, after their day in Hogsmeade…

            "No…"

            Harry jumped and looked around, as if someone had been listening to his thoughts.

            "Tom…no…don't hurt him! Don't kill Harry!"

            Ginny was whimpering, her peaceful sleep interrupted by a nightmare. From the sound of it, she was dreaming of Tom Riddle when she had been trapped in the Chamber of Secrets. Had Riddle told her that he was going to die? Harry stared for a moment, not sure exactly what to do, before kneeling by her side and running his hand down her back. "Shh," he said soothingly. "It's okay, it's just a dream."

            He continued to whisper comfortingly until her body relaxed completely. Her mouth parted slightly and her steady breathing returned.

            Harry stared at her mouth. She was fast asleep; no one would ever have to know. He could just lean down and kiss her. He licked his lips nervously and glanced around the common room, though he already knew it was empty. Hesitantly, he brought his head down and pressed his lips to hers, and to his surprise she pressed right back. Harry gasped and pulled away as if he had just kissed a stove. Ginny's eyes snapped open.

            "Ginny! Bloody—I thought you were asleep!"

            Ginny stared at him, looking mortified. "…So did I! Oh, Merlin, so that wasn't a dream?"

            Harry buried his face in his arms. "I'm such an idiot! Ginny, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have…er, y'know…when you were sleeping."

            "No! No, don't be sorry, Harry. It was…nice."

            Harry couldn't tell if he was smiling or not. His lips seemed to be numb. He sat down on the couch; his knees were shaking like mad.

            Ginny wringed her hands together and said with some hesitation, "I never really stopped liking you, Harry. I mean, I dated other guys to try to get over you, but it never worked, obviously."

            Harry gulped as he took one of Ginny's hands into his own. "Ginny…will you please consider being my girlfriend?"

            Ginny grinned. "Well, I don't know Harry, I may have to think about that for a while…give me a month or two." Ginny leaned forward and kissed him sweetly. "Of course I will."

            Ron looked up from his chess game with Hermione once again to gaze across the common room. Ginny was sitting on Harry's lap by the fireplace; they had their heads close together and giggled every few minutes.

            Hermione looked up at him. "Ron? Ron, it's your turn. Are you okay? You've been awfully quiet during this whole game."

            Ron turned to look at his girlfriend. "Yeah, I'm fine, love. It's just…have you looked at those two lately? They've only been together for a month and they're acting like children." Ron turned once more.

            "I've got your nose!" Harry was saying. He held his hand high above his head as Ginny tried to crawl atop his shoulders.

            Ron shook his head. "What on earth is wrong with them?"


End file.
